It’s Not Enough to Declare June 12 Democracy Day When Buhari’s Govt Disrespects Rule of Law – Atiku

Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) in 2019 general election, Atiku Abubakar, has
said that declaring June 12 as Democracy Day is not enough, when the
current government allegedly disrespects the rule of Law.

Atiku stated this in a statement he signed and made available to newsmen on Wednesday.
He listed what according to him do not conform to the ideals of June 12 which Buhari’s government is guilty of.

The statement read: “June 12 is at the soul of our democratic struggle; a threshold in our national life.
“The
significance of the celebration of June 12, 1993, Presidential Election
is a reminder of our history to becoming a democratic country. On this
day twenty-six years ago, Nigeria voted for democracy against the
jackboot notion of oppressive totalitarianism.

“The collective
decision by Nigerians to elect democracy on that day was not to
aggrandize the political elite or to replace the military dictatorship
with civilian autocracy. No! The choice of democracy was to restore
power to the people.

“Suffice it to state that the idea of June
12 is not merely to declare it as a Democracy Day – much as celebratory
and commendable it might seem.

“The idea behind the event of June
12, 1993, embodies something much bigger than that. It was a threshold
moment in our national life that demands of us as democrats to do a soul
searching and ask the salient question of all time: how better off are
Nigerians?

“It is not enough to declare June 12 a Democracy Day
when the government of the day is disrespectful of the rule of law and
wantonly disregards court orders on issues that border on fundamental
human rights.
“It is not enough to declare June 12 a work-free
day when the ordinary people of Nigeria still don’t have the freedom to
find a better life from the suffocating grip of poverty, when Nigeria is
now the global headquarters of extreme poverty.

“It is not
enough to declare June 12 a work-free day when a disproportionate number
of citizens are not sure of where their next meal will come from and
when the sanctity of their lives is not guaranteed.
“It is not
enough to declare June 12 a work-free day when freedom of the press, and
of speech, fundamentals of democracy is being assailed.

“As a
compatriot who stood shoulder to shoulder with the icon of the June 12
struggle, Chief MKO Abiola of blessed memory, I know first-hand that the
choice of HOPE as his campaign slogan wasn’t merely a populist
tokenism.

“He didn’t mean to deceive Nigerians with a hope he
could not deliver upon. And, today, the minimum requirement for any June
12 convert is to demand of them wherever they may be – either in
government or in private lives – to deliver on the promises they made to
the people.

“It is therefore not acceptable that an
administration which had an opportunity of four years to deliver the
promise of change to Nigerians, not only reneged on that promise but
propelled the country into a near-comatose state will lay claims to
being a true friend of the June 12 struggle.
“To
be a lover of June 12 is to believe in the common good of the people.
June 12 is about the political leadership having the focus to retool the
Nigerian economy. It is about having the skills to create wealth and
jobs for the teeming mass of unemployed. It is not about the inclination
for shared pains; it is about shared prosperity.

“As we
celebrate yet another episode of the June 12 struggle, the desire for
hope is more preponderant today much as it was twenty-six years ago. So,
for all true lovers of democracy, let us keep the HOPE alive.”

The
decision to now have June 12 as the country’s Democracy Day is based on
the presidential election of June 12, 1993, which the late Abiola
supposedly won. The poll was however annulled by them military
president, Ibrahim Babangida.

It’s Not Enough to Declare June 12 Democracy Day When Buhari’s Govt Disrespects Rule of Law – Atiku
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June 12, 2019
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